1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to bathing apparatus for bed patients and more particularly to a portable shower bath apparatus having a disposable catch basin apparatus for collecting shower water used in bathing such bed patients.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices for bathing or showering said patients and collecting the water therefrom are not new to this art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,336, discloses a portable bed bath having a waterproof sheet attached to a frame to form the bath tub portion. This sheet and frame combination is then positioned above an existing bed surface and supported thereby. Other prior art devices disclosed similar apparatus: a plastic liner that attaches to a bed frame structural member, forming a bath tub over the patient's bed. Other devices incorporate a porous net support member for supporting a bed patient during the shower operation, which permits the shower water to be collected therebelow. Still other devices surround the bed patient in an enclosure, and incorporate a system of spray nozzles within to cleanse the bed patient. All of the prior art devices utilize rather complex mechanisms for supporting the bed patient and/or collecting the shower water after use. In addition, each of the prior art devices disclosed utilizes the "bath tub" repeatedly for each of many patients, giving rise to the possibility of transmitting and/or perpetuating non-sanitary conditions from one bed patient to the next if the "bath tub" is not thoroughly cleaned after each use. Obviously this is a very costly procedure in terms of "non-use" time of a portable shower bath apparatus, and also in terms of labor expended in attempting to thoroughly clean the "bath tub" after each use.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a portable shower bath apparatus for bathing bed-patients, and having a disposable water collecting sheet therein to collect the shower water after use, to prevent the perpetuation of unsanitary conditions.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a portable shower bath apparatus of simple construction and operation in order to simplify the procedure for bathing and/or showering bed-patients.